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Your Weekend Task – Sign These Petitions

August 15, 2025 by 4 Comments

The clock is ticking on the time limit to gather the required 363 valid signatures to be placed upon the NRA Board of Directors ballot for 2026. The Nominating Committee meets on August 23rd and then 45 days later the window closes. Article VIII, Sec. 3(b) of the Bylaws provides NO leeway to the deadline and it is a black letter bylaw at that. A black letter bylaw can only be changed by a vote of the members and it has a very high bar to even get on the ballot.

The first three here are candidates that I have either nominated directly or strongly encouraged to run for the Board

Todd Vandermyde

Todd is the president of the Aurora Sportsman’s Club which is the largest gun club in Illinois. More importantly, Todd spent years in the trenches of the Illinois General Assembly lobbying for gun rights. Few people know more Illinois gun laws than Todd. Additionally, Todd has helped bring many lawsuits that have helped advance gun rights. While not a lawyer, his out of the box thinking on legal and legislative strategy is desperately needed on the Board of Directors. I was happy to nominate Todd for the Board last year and am happy to do it again. We need him on the Board.

Rob Beckman

Rob brings so many things to the table as I said in my post endorsing him back in June. He has business experience, he has a social media presence as a podcaster, he is a trainer, he is a hunter, and the list keeps going on. Most importantly, Rob is solidly on the side of reform and rebuilding the NRA. Frank Tait has a more extensive biography of Rob on his Substack site.

Jacqueline Janes

I have known Jaci since we met at the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot in 2011. As I said in my post endorsing her, we have kept in touch ever since at various events. Jaci brings industry experience, competitive experience, non-profit experience, and marketing experience to the table. She is currently the Director of Marketing for Apex Tactical Specialties in Arizona. Importantly, she brings with her significant grassroots organizing experience. Indeed, she and her partner Robert were co-winners of the NRA-ILA’s Jay M. Littlefield Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award for 2012.

The next five names on my list were not nominated or recruited by me but are people I’ve worked with to improve the NRA over the past few years.

Huey Laugesen

I serve with Huey on the NRA’s Membership Committee. He is the Executive Director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association. He has increased their membership by 170% by the smart use of social media and targeted emails. Sadly to say given how Colorado politics have trended recently, he is now on the front lines of the battles to preserve our Second Amendment rights. If anyone knows how a state can go from good to bad in a short period of time, it is Huey and he is fighting it tooth and nail. Huey is, I believe, on the younger end of the Millennial age range. Frank Tait published a bio for Huey on his website found here.

Charles Brown

Charles was part of the NRA 2.0 slate in 2024-25. Unfortunately, due to back to back hurricanes, he was not able to get his petitions in by the deadline and had to run as a write-in candidate. He has been in the firearms industry for decades as the owner of MKS Supply and Hi-Point Firearms. You can scoff all you want about Hi-Point pistols but they work and they serve a niche in the market. Charles would bring needed management and marketing experience to the Board if he is on the ballot. Frank Tait has more here.

R. Todd Figard

Todd was part of our NRA 2.0 ticket in 2024-25 running by petition. He is a retired quality engineer from Ohio, a firearms safety examiner for the Great American Outdoor Show, and an instructor. Unfortunately, Todd did not make the cut to be elected in 2025 but would make an excellent candidate for 2026. He comes highly recommended by my friend Amanda Suffecool.

Randy Luth

Randy was one of the first within the firearms industry to break from the “all is well with the NRA” theme pushed by Wayne LaPierre and his cohort. As far back as 2021, he called for Wayne to leave. Randy currently owns Luth-AR and was the founder of DPMS-Panther Arms which is now a sister company to Palmetto State Armory. I think Randy has confirmed his reformer credentials and I think his management and entrepreneurial experience speaks for itself.

LtCol Robert Brown

What more can I say about Col. Bob that hasn’t already been said? Founder of Soldier of Fortune Magazine, shooting raconteur, former dissident Board member, and burr under the saddle of the Old Guard. When I decided to run for the Board, he was one of those who encouraged me to just do it.

You can find the rest of Col. Bob’s endorsements here. I don’t know some of them so I have to trust his recommendations which have always proved valid.

As a final aside, Amanda Suffecool is not on this list because she has made her numbers. Way to go, Amanda!

Just as a reminder, only voting members of the NRA can sign these petitions. A voting member is a Life Member of whatever level or an Annual Member with five years of continuous, unbroken membership or more. I hate to say it but if you had a break in your Annual Membership, the clock started again.

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Battle For Permitless Concealed Carry In NC Starts Again

January 21, 2025 by 2 Comments

Grass Roots North Carolina is restarting the battle for permitless concealed carry in North Carolina again. It starts with a petition to the Republican leaders of the North Carolina House and Senate calling on them to start committee hearings and floor votes to bring this legislation forward. No bills have been filed as of yet as the House and Senate do not convene until January 29th.

2025 Constitutional Carry petition (1)Download

People can also sign this petition electronically and it is actually much easier to do it that way. GRNC’s goal is a minimum of 1,000 petitions to present to the GOP leaders of the General Assembly. As I write this, they are 25% of the way to their goal.

You may remember that HR 189 – Freedom to Carry NC Act – had passed its first two readings in the NC House back in 2023 and was headed to a third and final reading when the bill got pulled. As I said at the time, you had your choice on who to blame for the bill being pulled. It could have been then-Speaker Tim Moore who insisted on a training component regarding the use of deadly force, it could have been Sen. President Pro-Tem Phil Berger who had said enough gun bills had been passed, or it could have been the NRA who objected to the bill at the last moment due to the training component.

Frankly, the NRA should never have objected to the bill even with the training component and that is one of the reasons I am running for the NRA Board of Directors. I am determined to see NRA-ILA “play nice” with other 2A organizations even on bills that didn’t originate with them. Objecting to the bill was a NRA v1.0 move and one that NRA 2.0 will hopefully never do.

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You Did It! I Made My NRA Petition Numbers

October 5, 2024 by 5 Comments

547 petition signatures with membership numbers sent by UPS Next Day Air to the NRA Office of the Secretary.

236 petition sheets with an average of 2.32 signatures per page.

The stack was about 1.5 inches and weighed just under three pounds.

Blank sheet on top for privacy.

USPS came through by delivering enough petitions with signatures on Friday to surpass the bylaw required number of 398.

I could not have done this without the aid of all of you who mailed me your petitions directly, those who signed a petition at a gun club, or those who mailed their petitions to Rocky Marshall in Texas for forwarding to me.

Beyond the many individuals who sent me their petition, I would like especially to thank Karl Rehn, Phil Journey, “Bitter”, and Todd Vandermyde for gathering multiple sheets of signatures at events like a class or GRPC and at their respective gun clubs. I also want to thank Rocky Marshall who helped coordinate the gathering of petitions for all the reform candidates and then sending them forward. Finally, a big thanks to Buz Mills of Gunsite for a huge email push, to the Board of Directors of California Rifle and Pistol Association for suggesting their members consider signing candidates’ petitions, and to the Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association which did likewise.

Two things were made very clear through this whole process to me. First, there are many, many individual NRA members who are not happy with the current state of things and want reform. Second, the number of people who have dropped their NRA annual memberships over the past few years is extraordinarily large. This was due in large part to a) disgust over the corruption and grifting by Wayne and his friends, b) the failure by many long-time members on the current Board to do their fiduciary duty, and c) a feeling that the NRA was no longer relevant in the fight for the Second Amendment as they had compromised one time too many. Any current board member that does not recognize that sticking to the “old ways” and looking the other way contributed in large part to the huge decline in membership of the NRA should think twice about remaining on the board.

To conclude, I want to reiterate my great thanks to all who signed my petition and those of other 13 reform candidates. I think all will be on the ballot come 2025.

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NRA Petition Candidate – Paul Babaz

September 13, 2024 by

Paul Babaz was another sitting director who was not re-nominated by the Nominating Committee. As he noted to me in an email, he didn’t get re-nominated “as I haven’t been falling in line with the cabal.” As NRA In Danger opined, he was purged.

Prior to serving on the NRA Board of Directors, Paul was president of Safari Club International. While a much smaller organization, it, too, has a large board of directors but they seem to be more frugal with their members’ dues. For example, last year they instituted a policy change whereby if you were coming to a committee meeting at the same time as the annual convention you paid your own expenses. Would that the NRA was that frugal with members’ dues.

Paul is currently a Managing Director-Investments and a Financial Advisor with Oppenheimer & Co. in Atlanta. His NRA biography is below:

Paul Babaz BIODownload

You can return Paul’s petition either to him directly at PO Box 81795, Atlanta, GA 30341. Alternatively, you can return it along with other petitions to Rocky Marshall. That address is Frontier Truck Gear, Attn Rocky Marshall, PO Box 277, Center Point, TX 78010. Regardless of which address you send it, the petition should be sent so that it arrives by September 30th. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed his petition.

Paul Babaz PetitionDownload

As with all of these petition candidates, if you can get more voting members to sign it, so much the better. A voting member is a) a Life Member of whatever level or b) an Annual Member with five years of continuous membership without a break.

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NRA Petition Candidate – Jim Porter

September 13, 2024 by

Former NRA President Jim Porter has been a thorn in the side of Bill Brewer. From what I understand, he has challenged both his competence and his billings.

It was Mr. Porter who moved that the May 2024 board meeting remain open and not in Executive Session. This was the meeting that saw three of the four reform candidates win officer or executive positions.

While not privy to the discussions within the Nominating Committee, I have to assume opposition from the cabal was one of the reasons he was not re-nominated for the 2025 ballot. It is virtually unheard of that a former NRA president is not nominated for re-election. Yet both he and Marion Hammer were not nominated for re-election. NRA In Danger has referred to this as the second director’s purge.

Since the Nominating Committee didn’t put Mr. Porter on the ballot, it falls to you and me to do it by petition.

James W. Porter IIDownload

You can return Mr. Porter’s petition either to him directly at 880 Montclair Rd, Suite 175, Birmingham, AL 35213. Alternatively, you can return it along with other petitions to Rocky Marshall. That address is Frontier Truck Gear, Attn Rocky Marshall, PO Box 277, Center Point, TX 78010. Regardless of which address you send it, the petition should be sent so that it arrives by September 30th.

According to his firm biography, Mr. Porter, an attorney, concentrates on defense work for public utilities and product liability claims for the firearms industry. His biography related to his work with the NRA is below.

Jim Porter BIODownload

Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed Mr. Porter’s petition and returned it. I would urge you to do so as well. His experience is necessary if the reform of the NRA is to be successful.

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Help Pass Permitless Concealed Carry In NC

April 28, 2023 by 4 Comments

North Carolina has and has had permitless open carry since 1922. That is when the North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Kerner said it was a constitutional violation to prohibit open carry. Now we are fighting to have what 27 other states have – unlicensed or permitless concealed carry.

Grass Roots North Carolina plans to deliver petitions demanding passage of permitless concealed carry to Speaker Tim Moore on Tuesday. Thursday, May 4th, is the last day for a bill to pass the House in order qualify for the crossover deadline. If the House does not pass HB 189 by then, permitless carry will be dead for the remainder of the next two years in the General Assembly.

GRNC also has an alert up with pre-written language with which to contact your State Representative. You can find it here.

I have embedded the petition below which has a QR code to lead you to where you will need to sign it. Frankly, I don’t think it matters if you live in North Carolina or not, we need numbers.

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Give Ian McCollum A Cameo In Next John Wick Movie!

August 14, 2020 by 3 Comments

A Change.org petition has been started to give Ian McCollum a cameo appearance in the next John Wick movie. I signed it a few days ago before I even saw this video. When I signed it, they were looking for 5,000 signatures. Now they stand at 65,000 signatures and are seeking 75,000.

In the video below, Ian makes some great points about why he should be considered for a role in the movie.

You can sign the petition here! Do it and do it now!

Who would you rather see in the movie – some boring old Hollywood hack or Gun Jesus? Heck, I might even go to the theater to see the movie is Ian was in it and I haven’t been in a movie theater in literally 20 years.

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Save The Second’s Petition Drive

July 29, 2019 by

For those that haven’t heard Save the Second is a grass roots organization calling for reforms in the National Rifle Association. They most certainly are not anti-NRA and their proposed reforms would, in my opinion, help shore up the organization and return the focus to fighting for the Second Amendment.

The Five Goals

  1. Smaller board of directors 
  2. Term limits
  3. Minimum attendance requirements
  4. Member engagement
  5. Return the focus to the 2A exclusively (training, advocacy, safety, hunting, etc.)

The first goal that they are working on is attendance requirements for directors. To that end, they are collecting signatures from voting members on a petition to bring that up at the next Board of Directors meeting in September. It seeks to change the bylaws to impose an attendance requirement. If a board member misses two out of three meetings in a given year without good cause, they cannot be nominated by the Nominating Committee. They could run by petition. If they miss three consecutive meetings, they would be permanently disqualified from service on the Board of Directors at the end of their current term.

I have groused about this in the past and now it is it is time to act. If you are going to put your name up for election to the Board, it should be incumbent upon you to actually show up for the meetings. While the celebrities seem to be the worst offenders, they aren’t the only ones.

Rob Pincus, one of the organizers and board members of Save the Second, explains more about it in the YouTube video below. I have downloaded, signed, and returned the petition myself. They need 250 signatures by the end of the week.